


ISAAC NEWTON

by estimultumit



Category: The Maze Runner (Movies), The Maze Runner Series - All Media Types, The Maze Runner Series - James Dashner, maze runner
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-24
Updated: 2021-01-29
Packaged: 2021-03-16 18:49:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28961241
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/estimultumit/pseuds/estimultumit
Summary: "Anger makes you stupid. Stupid gets you killed.""I'd rather die than spend another second being their lab rat, Isaac.""Don't call me that."
Relationships: Newt (Maze Runner) & Original Character(s), Newt (Maze Runner) & Original Female Character(s), Newt (Maze Runner)/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 9





	1. Chapter 1

An abrupt shake and the deafening sound of screeching metal jolted the young girl awake. The first thing she noticed was that she was in upward motion. The second was the splitting headache that caused a guttural groan to escape her dry throat. Once her vision had somewhat adjusted to the lack of natural light, she began to slowly take in her surroundings, terribly disoriented. A metal box trapped her, along with a pile of yet unknown objects to her.

She tried to remember how she'd ended up in such situation, but nothing came to her. She had no recollection whatsoever of any event prior to her awakening on the metal grating. What caused her further agitation was the realization that she couldn't even remember her own name, no matter how hard she tried. She began to manically whisper a trail of names to herself, hoping that one of them would feel somewhat familiar. She gave up, however, since all of them rolled almost bitterly off her tongue.

Another ear-shattering clash shifted her attention from her disconcerting amnesia to the device of a plan of escape. She rose to her feet with the help of the wire mesh, heart pounding as if it were to escape her ribcage at any moment and each movement only worsening her migrane. She ran her hands along all the sides of the box, hoping to find a door of some sort. But then apprehension dawned upon her; even if she did find a way out, the box had been going upwards like an elevator for at least a couple of minutes since she'd woken up. There was no way she'd survive that kind of fall. She then proceeded to frantically rummage through the heaps of objects on either side of her, but she found little more than rags, tools, seeds and a pair of hens. Had she not been so frightened, she would've been amused by the similarity between the chickens stuck in a metal cage and herself. Instead, she pondered upon the idea of tying a rope she'd found to the cage and descending with its help, were she to find an exit. But again, she had no idea how far up she was.

As a last resort, she pounded desperately on the metal and yelled for help on top of her lungs, the collision battering her hands, but she doubted anyone could hear her.

"Hello? Can anybody hear me? Please, help! I need help! Hello?", she shouted in-between gasps, but to no avail.

Exhausted and with burning vocal cords, she slid along the cold metal and sat down, knees to her heaving chest and head in her hands, headache not subsiding at all. Tears quickly made their way to her eyes, but she gulped down the urge to cry and instead focused again on trying to remember any little detail that could help her figure out where she was, and were she was headed to. She caught glance of a barrel with the word **_W.C.K.D_** inscribed on it in bold, white letters.

" _W.C.K.D..._ ", she whispered. The word bore some sense of familiarity with it, but she couldn't pinpoint where she'd heard it before.

Her train of thought was, again, interrupted by a thunderous sound. Only this time, it was a blaring alarm that seemed to get closer as the box picked up speed. She looked up and stared at the red light at the end of the tunnel for a brief few seconds before she realized it was coming to an end, and the box showed no signs of slowing down. In an effort to minimize the upcoming impact, she swiftly slid underneath a pile of sacks, praying that she wouldn't be crushed to death yet subconsciously knowing that there was no probable way of escaping the inevitable. The only thing left was for her to shut her eyes and contort her body into a fetal position, clenching every single muscle of her being out of pure terror. Much to her surprise, the impact never came. Instead, the box came to a sudden stop that made her body jump ever so slightly off the metal ground, forcing a painful yelp out of her. The tunnel was invaded by sunlight in a flash.

An ensemble of approximately thirty teenage boys scanned the _Box_ in confusion as no new frightened lad came in sight after Gally had opened the lid.

"Where's the _Greenie_?", was the first thing she heard.

"He must be hiding.", another masculine voice added, this one coated with a thick British accent.

Her breath got caught in her throat as the soles of a pair of dirty boots collided with the metal, causing it to rattle beneath her.

"Greenie, where are you?~", the first voice chanted, as if a predator stalking its prey.

She could see the person searching for her approach the stack of sacks that shielded her from their vision, so she took a deep breath, mentally preparing for whatever were to come next. The muscular boy yanked the sacks one by one off the pile, looking forward to meeting the next victim of his tantalizing behavior in the same way a child would look forward to opening his Christmas presents in the morning. His smirk, however, disappeared as soon as he spotted a small figure with a long mane of red hair that attempted to shield her eyes from the powerful Sun with her forearm lying underneath what was the last sack, a layer of confusion settling on his face instead.

"Well? Is he there?", the young British boy inquired eagerly.

"Gally?", persisted Alby when he saw that his friend simply stood there, a sack still in his hands, looking down at whoever it was that the _Creators_ had decided to send up that month.

"Hey, Alby...", Gally began, not taking his gaze off the petite, trembling silhouette that had placed her own set of doe-like eyes on him. "You might want to come down here."

The aforementioned exchanged a confused look with his second-in-command and then jumped into the Box with Gally. One look towards the bunch of sacks was enough to make him understand his friend's befuddlement and to feel a cluster of nerves settle in the pit of his stomach. He was their leader; he was supposed to know how to act in these kinds of situations. But truth be told, he couldn't remember the last time he'd interacted with a girl, and judging by her panicked state one wrong move and she'd be sprinting out of there, which didn't help his self-assurance in the slightest.

By the time she'd slowly poked her head from behind the remaining sacks to absorb her surroundings properly, the rest of the bunch had already figured out what was going on. John had had the honor of going around the Box to find out what Alby and Gally had been staring at and announcing to everyone that she was, in fact, a girl. A loud buzz instantly spread around like a fire as they all began posing all kinds of questions to satiate their curiosity before making their way over to where their announcer stood to check her out for themselves, _'what she look like_?' and ' _is she hot?_ ' naturally being the most common ones. One of them even had the audacity of declaring " _I call dibs_!". She feared even more for her safety as she quickly figured out that her gender was something out of the norm for them.

"We should start unloading soon.", Gally pointed out to their leader.

Knowing he had to do something, Alby crouched in front of the girl, thinking that she might've been further intimidated were he to speak to her from above. She shifted her gaze from the ones outside the Box to him.

"Welcome to the _Glade_ Greenie, name's Alby.", he smiled and extended a hand to her as a greeting. But she just looked at it suspiciously, so he retracted it and decided that maybe it was best to give her some space. "Do you remember yours?"

A glint of sadness passed her blue orbs as she shook her head 'no', eyes never leaving his.

"Don't worry, happens to all of us when we first get here. It'll come to you in a few days."

"Where am I?", she whispered softly, her throat still sore from all the yelling she'd done back when she was still being sent up.

Alby stood up carefully and offered her another kind smile, seeking to look approachable. He'd seen her flinch when one of the boys whistled loudly at her, as if she were an animal.

"Come on, let me show you.", he offered, holding his hand out again, this time to help her stand up. "We'll not hurt you, I promise."

After a few wavering seconds, she took his hand reluctantly and then was helped out of the Box by Newt, who'd been watching the whole scene from above, shooting poisonous glares at those whose comments got out of hand. She was obviously already distressed, as had they all been on their first day. Only they didn't have to deal with a plethora of improper remarks being thrown their way, so why was it fair for her to have to?

Alby pushed himself up and out of the Box, ordering Newt to help Gally unload the supplies that had come up, while the rest were to return to their jobs. A wave of protests and grunts filled the air, they were not pleased that they couldn't enjoy their new monthly attraction. Especially if their new monthly attraction was a girl, and a pretty one at that. Not that any of them had recollection of other girls to compare her to. Much to their disappointment, everyone had to listen to Alby's orders, and so the crowd dissipated in a few seconds, some of the boys turning their heads around to get one last quick glance at the girl.

The dark-skinned boy turned around to speak to her and caught her staring at the towering stone walls that surrounded them in utter disbelief, with her eyebrows furrowed and mouth slightly agape. Once she'd done a proper 360° scan of the large green clearing they found themselves in, she turned to face him.

"What is this place?", she asked, her words laced with boldness, unlike back in the Box where her voice barely rose above a whisper.

"You're in the Glade.", Alby attempted to explain, but was quickly cut off.

"Yeah I know, I heard you before. But what is a 'Glade'?", she blurted out impatiently, surprising the teenage boy. She was still very visibly unsettled by the oddity of it all, but she didn't resemble a newborn foal attempting to stand up for the first time like she did back behind the sacks.

"The Glade is our home.", he began. "It's where we eat, where we sleep and where we work. Every month, a new arrival comes up in the Box, along with a bunch of supplies. This month, that is you."

She frowned, still not understanding what she had to do with it all. Then she started to panic again, remembering that she still had no memories. Every time she tried to cling onto any vague image of her past, a painful pang like a knife being shoved into her skull took her out of it.

"I think...", she trailed off, tears welling up in her eyes. "I think there has been some kind of misunderstanding. I have no reason to be here."

He smiled sorrowfully at her. _Neither do we_ , he thought to himself.

"Can you remember something, anything at all?", he tried to change the subject.

She shook her head. "No, I try but-", she stopped dead in her tracks as an intrusive thought clouded her mind, almost pushing her eyes out of their sockets.

 _Isaac_.

"Isaac.", she whispered, as if tasting every letter. It didn't feel bitter at all. "Isaac.", she repeated, this time loud enough for Alby to hear.

"What?", he asked, not understanding what she meant.

"I remember a name. Isaac."

"Is it yours?"

She thought about it for a second, repeating the word over and over in her mind. Was it hers? It didn't feel foreign, just like the white inscription she'd seen on all of the supplies hadn't, but it couldn't have possibly belonged to her.

"I don't think so."

The boy chuckled, alerting her gaze from the grass she'd been mindlessly staring at while trying to put a face to the name she'd just remembered to him.

"Well that isn't very helpful then, is it? Come on, it's almost lunch, you should eat something.", he proposed, turning around after motioning her to follow with his hand.

A sudden growl from her indeed empty stomach made her consider his offer for a split second, but then she remembered that she actually had not learned much about where she was, or why she was there in the first place. What is more, she felt the urging need to escape.

"No.", her answer made him turn around and look at her, confused. She started inching away, stealing quick glances at the _North Door_ , which she'd figured was closest, just in case she needed to start sprinting. "I'm sorry but I really don't think I should be here. I'd better get going. Sorry for all the commotion caused."

He looked at her with the expression of a child depleted of every last drop of hope. He already knew that she wasn't going to take well what he was about to confess.

"If there were a way out, believe me when I tell you that none of us would be here."

He could practically see her soul fall to her feet. He feared that if he were to continue, it would be like kicking it around like a football. With every second that passed and every word he pronounced, she felt a progressively greater need to drop to the ground and bawl her eyes out. But she refused to show such sign of weakness.

"So, you're saying I'm stuck here?"

"I'm afraid so."

Agitated like a deer caught in a trap, she started pacing around and taking deep breaths, struggling to keep the upcoming panic attack at bay.

"I don't believe you. I'm sorry, I really have to leave.", she ranted while heading towards one of the four gates.

"Hey. Hey, Greenie!", she could hear him call out from behind. Why did he keep calling her that?

She hurried when she saw him following her, but he stopped her by grabbing her forearm. Instinctively, she swatted his hand away.

"Don't touch me!", she exclaimed, grabbing the attention of a few _Track-hoes_ working in the _Gardens_.

"Ok. Ok, I'm sorry", he attempted to calm her down by taking a step back and raising his hands in the air, in a symbol of peace. "But I can't let you leave."

"Why not?", she asked, but he just lowered his hands and looked past her, at the open gate a couple hundred meters away from them. She heard a terrifying sound coming from beyond the walls that could shake even a grown man to his core. "What is that?"

"It's dangerous out there. You can't leave outside these walls.", she spun around to look him dead in the eye. His not answering her questions clearly enough started to aggravate her.

"What is that?", she demanded to know.

He still didn't give her an exact answer, but his next words made her fearful enough not to push it further. "A certain death."

He saw her look behind one more time, at the open gate, but showed no intention of resuming her path towards the _Maze_ , which he was thankful for.

"Listen, I know this is a lot to take in. Trust me, we've all been there. I say we go get you a nice warm meal and a comfortable place to sleep in. Tomorrow, Newt can take you on a tour of the Glade and answer all of your questions. What do you say?"

"Why won't you take me on the tour?"

She had no idea who Newt was. It's not like she trusted Alby with her life, but he had not shown any signs of wanting to harm her so far, which was more than could be said about the bunch of hooligans that harassed her back in the Box.

"I would, it's normally my job, but I have some important stuff that I need to sort out tomorrow with the _Keepers_. You'll be in good hands though, I promise."

She analyzed him suspiciously, weary of his true intentions. She could not, however, pinpoint a single hint of dishonesty in his smile, so she finally came around.

"Very well.", he concluded, a grin spreading on his face when he heard a bell ringing in the distance and Frypan yelling out ' _food's ready!_ '. "Hungry?"


	2. Chapter 2

The intense smell of freshly cooked potato stew filled the air, causing every stomach to growl. Alby made his way to the queue of Gladers waiting for their meal in a single file by Frypan's kitchen, occasionally turning his head to make sure that the Greenie still followed. He was pleased to see her walking obediently a few meters behind him, immersed in thought.

What was she going to do? She couldn't possibly spend the rest of her life in that place. _At least I won't have to figure it all out on an empty belly_ , she tried to cheer herself up. What a silly thing to focus on under such extreme circumstances.

"There she is!", exclaimed Zart while pointing with his index finger towards the two approaching figures.

The bunch diverted their attention from their trivial conversations to the nearing female newcomer. She had undoubtedly piqued their interest, although some did a better job at masking it than others, not wishing to make her uncomfortable. She already had enough to deal with. Of course, there were also those who let loose on their raging teenage hormones and acted like downright feral beasts. Newt silently condemned them for their repulsive behavior, waiting patiently for his turn.

She was skeptical about approaching the boys so carelessly, especially those who looked at her as if she were their lunch instead of the stew. She felt so stupid standing there, fidgeting with the seam of her tank top, not knowing what to do. Thankfully, she was handed a poorly made tin plate by the friendly leader, who cracked a kind smile before heading towards the front, where Frypan stood behind a table and served his stew.

“Enjoy your meal.”

She didn't expect him to leave her on her own, and that made her even more nervous. Having no other option, she prudently took her place at the very back of the line and waited, keeping a solid distance between herself and the lanky boy in front of her. She studied the plate in her hands awkwardly in an attempt to avoid the occasional stare being thrown her way.

Alby approached his second-in-command with visible high spirits and good news.

"How’s the _Newbie_?", asked the Briton, getting a friendly pat on the shoulder from his pal.

"Scared, understandably so. But I think I convinced her not to run off in the middle of the night.", he explained. "She agreed to take a tour of the Glade, I'm gonna need your help with that."

Newt nodded in compliance, not needing to ask about the reason; obviously she was a special situation that none of them knew how to deal with quite exactly, and Alby would need to call a _Gathering_ with the Keepers to figure out how she'd get assigned to a job, or even if she was to. He would usually attend those meetings, as second-in-command, but what the Greenie needed in that moment was a level-headed Glader to carefully answer all of her questions without frightening her to death, and with Alby busy, Newt was the next best option.

"We should also ask one of the _Builders_ to set up a hammock soon. Looks like the Sun has been setting earlier these days. Winter's coming."

"Alright Fry?", Newt greeted after placing his plate in front of the cook to receive his portion.

"Slaving away, you know how it be.", Frypan joked, earning chuckles from his small audience.

“This smoke is gonna be the death of us!”, Jim bantered further, poking his head from behind Frypan.

“And you’re gonna be the death of me, that garlic isn’t going to peel itself you S _hank_!”

“ _Good that_ , boss!”

The blond boy took his food and made a beeline for one of the wooden benches they collectively ate all of their meals at, Alby following closely behind. Being the leader allowed liberties such as skipping line. Newt debated internally whether his opinion on the matter was appropriate or not, but figured that the safety of a fellow Glader was probably more important that his concern for seeming overly interested in her well-being.

"I don't think it's a good idea to let her sleep with the others.", he stated in-between spoonfuls of potatoes.

"Why’s that?" Surely none of the boys would be stupid enough to try something on her when one of their three essential rules clearly specified against it, or so Alby thought.

Newt sighed. "I overheard some of the guys talking about her by the Gardens. I just don't think it's safe for her."

"They're just surprised, Newt, is all."

“You do as you see fit, I'm just warnin’ ya."

"Well, where do you suggest she sleeps then? There's no space left in the _Homestead_. And we can't just throw a Keeper out to free a bed for her."

"I'm sure Newtie would be more than willing to scoot over and make some space for her in his bed, wouldn't you?", teased Gally, who'd been listening to their conversation. The other guys sitting at their table chortled.

Newt let out a faint laugh as well. "I was thinkin’ about maybe settin’ up a hammock in the _Council Hall_ until we figure out what to do with her. It locks from the inside."

"I need to call a Gathering in the Hall first thing in the morning.", argued Alby.

"I'll have her out on the tour by then." Newt always spoke with such logic that Alby simply couldn't bring himself to quarrel with his reasoning.

"Alright, I'll ask Dan to set it up for her after lunch.", he finally agreed, gobbling away.

“I need Dan to help us finish the new shower.”, Gally butted in again. He pointed at Newt with his spoon, “Surely this Shank over here couldn’t be more excited about setting up her hammock.”

Newt punched his shoulder playfully. “ _Slim it_.”

“I’ll have a _Slopper_ do it then.” Alby rose to his feet and grabbed his now empty plate. “Don’t take too long. There’s a lot that needs to be done today.”, he said towards the guys and walked off, not without saluting them with a nod first.

Newt nodded back and then turned his head to look at the new girl, standing a good ten meters from where he sat. She looked so out of place queueing with the other lads. It wasn’t just her sex that made her stand out, although that was a big part of it. Her long, red hair was so different from all the rest, one had to make a conscious effort not to notice her.

“Next!”

By the time she got to Frypan there was barely more than a few smashed potatoes at the very bottom of the pot. He scraped out what little was left and placed it on her plate with an awful splosh that made her grimace. Noticing her apparent repugnance, the cook chuckled.

“I promise it tastes better than it looks.”

She mumbled a quick ‘ _thank you_ ’ and left. Finding a more secluded spot to sit was not too hard since it was almost the end of their lunch break and most of them had already finished their food and gone off to lie down for a few minutes. She placed her plate on the table and began to pick at the stew with her spoon. At least the cutlery seemed to have been washed properly. She was very well aware that she was being carefully watched by the few boys still eating, Newt being one of them, so she closed her eyes and took an unsure bite, not wanting to seem too rude. The food was not so terrible and her empty stomach certainly appreciated it.

Gally scoffed next to the observing lad. “She won’t last a week in here.”

Newt frowned, then focused on hurriedly finishing his meal, stood up and left to attend to his duties.

The improvised dinette next to the Homestead was abandoned by all but one in a matter of minutes. The Greenie had long finished her meal, but she had no idea what to do or where to go next. So, after putting her plate on the pile of dirty dishes as she’d seen everyone else do, she simply resorted to returning back to her spot at the table and waiting for Alby, or anyone else for that matter, to come for her. But no one did, not for an hour at least, and she wasn’t brave enough to venture into the unknown by her lonesome self. After about thirty minutes, she started to grow worried, and then a bit annoyed; had they already forgotten about her? Perhaps it wasn’t a bad thing. Perhaps she could go unnoticed for the time being and perhaps she could actually find a way to get out of that godforsaken place.

She passed time by studying the Glade, a huge clearing flanked by four impossibly high concrete walls. From where she sat, she could see the box she had come up in, right in the middle of it all. She wondered whether she could just sneak into it before it headed back down and return to where she came from. But such an obvious escape must’ve surely come with a trick, or else she doubted any of the boys would’ve still been there. Back in the furthest corner from her she could barely make out a poorly made building surrounded by a wooden fence, similar to the one she currently sat next to, but significantly smaller. She saw a couple of boys chase some stray livestock into the fairly large wooded area across the small farm.

To her left was a patch of plowed soil and an orchard, though none of the trees bore fruits. She studied a bunch of guys planting seeds intently. They were mostly all skinny and looked unkempt, puberty still owing them a couple of favors. What surprised her, though, was the way they laughed and fooled around as if they were no different to kids on summer vacation, working their grandparents’ garden. They appeared… content. Carefree, almost. She suddenly realized that for some of them, this had probably been their reality for a long time, and it didn’t seem all that terrible. But she couldn’t bring herself to accept the fact that it might become hers too.

Then she looked at one of the gates, remembering Alby’s ominous description of what awaited her beyond those walls. But how was she to know whether he was telling the truth or not? How was she to know that it wasn’t all just a sick and twisted plot to keep in the Glade? Was she truly stranded? And most importantly, who’d put her there? Determined to find out, she stood up and began walking with the _East Door_ in sight, but someone obstructed her path after a few mere strides. A scrawny and sweaty guy towered above her, causing her to immediately take a couple of steps back, startled.

“Hey, I’m Adam.” He wiped the sweat off his forehead and then extended his hand to her, expecting a handshake.

She just looked at him with furrowed eyebrows. Adam retreated his hand, quite embarrassed, and showed her the jumbled piece of brown fabric he was holding in the other one with a sheepish grin, as if she were supposed to understand what he meant by that.

“Come on Greenie, let’s get you settled. Sorry for making you wait, I just didn’t know where exactly they store the hammocks and couldn’t find Alby. Newt said he’d be waiting by the South Door for Minho and the others, but I swear that Shank just has a way of making himself impossible to find. I looked for him all over the Glade…”, he rambled on, not even noticing that she hadn’t moved an inch from where he’d initially ambushed her.

He looked at her, confused. “Aren’t you coming?”

“I’m not going anywhere with you.”

“But Newt said I should help you put your hammock up in the Homestead.”

“Listen,”, she began, running a hand through her hair in frustration. “I don’t know you, I don’t know who Newt is and I don’t know what Homestead means, alright? I just know that I have a lot of questions that no one around here seems to be too eager to answer, but until I don’t find out what exactly is going on I’m not going off to God-knows-where with God-know-who.”

Her sudden outburst caught him by surprise. “I’m just trying to do my job, ok? It’s not my place to be telling you things I don’t very well know myself. I just got here last month.”

“Well then let me speak to someone who will. Alby, for example.”

“I will, after we find you someplace to sleep. You should be grateful they’re not making you crash with the rest of the bunch.”

“What’s going on?”, she heard someone with a thick British accent ask from behind her. Newt leisurely approached the two quarrelling figures he’d been watching from the distance. “You alright there, Greenie?”, he asked, looking her up and down with a cheeky smirk plastered on his lips. She nodded.

She’d seen him before, when she’d come up on the Box. He’d also caught her attention when she was watching the boys work in the Gardens. He was speaking to one of them; it looked as if he were ordering him around. There was no denying his undoubtedly handsome features, but that wasn’t necessarily why she’d been so engrossed in observing him; it was rather this feeling of familiarity associated with his face that she couldn’t shake away. Soon enough she figured out that they probably all came from the same place and had met at some point in their lives, then moved onto the next target of her vigilant eye.

“She doesn’t want me to set up her hammock.”, Adam explained.

“That’s not what I said; I said I wasn’t going anywhere with you.”, she retorted.

Newt raised an eyebrow at her remark, clearly amused. She didn’t like it one bit; it felt as if they were mocking her. “Why not?”

She took in a mouthful of air and rubbed her face, tears threatening to spill for nth time that day. “Could I… could I maybe speak to Alby, please?”

Newt, being the perceptive and clever bean he was, caught onto her change of attitude pretty fast and assumed that perhaps what she needed was a different approach. “Just leave the hammock in the Hall Adam, we’ll figure it out later.”, he addressed his comrade.

Adam looked at them a bit unsure, but did as was told. Newt turned to the distressed Greenie again. “Alby’s busy at the moment. But you can tell me if you need anything.”, he tried to reassure her.

“I just…”, she felt the lump in her throat harden as she tried to push her words out without crying. “I don’t understand why I’m here. I… I didn’t do anything to deserve this… I need to get out…”, she babbled in-between gasps.

_Run. Run. Run._

“Hey, hey… it’s alright.”, he motioned to place his hand on her shoulder in an attempt to soothe her anxiety, but she avoided it by inching back and shot him a nasty glare. “I know you’re scared.”

“I’m not scared, I just need to get out of here.”, she repeated, clearly this time, trying to hide the fact that she was straight up lying. The truth was, she was absolutely mortified, and he could tell. There was no bullshitting Newt around.

“I don’t believe you.”, he argued, catching her completely off guard. His stupid smile irritated the life out of her because it made her believe that he truly was making fun of her. In reality, he just found her stubbornness kind of endearing.

“I don’t care.”

“It’s ok to be scared. Everyone’s scared when they first arrive. I remember I was too. Terrified, actually.”, she looked at him suspiciously. _Why is he telling me this?_ “But we need to learn to trust each other, otherwise it’s just not gonna work. You need to know that I’m just trying to look out for you. Everyone is, really. It’s the way the Glade works. And I need to know that you’re not gonna try to go beyond those walls.”

She scoffed, mumbling a bitter “I don’t even now your name.” Did he really think she was so naïve? Newt’s smile widened, turning into a grin.

“Now, Adam’s gonna help you get nice and settled in the Council Hall. We’d normally set your hammock up with the rest, but Alby figured you might feel more comfortable sleeping in a room you can actually lock.”, he explained, avoiding to mention that he’d actually been the one to come up with the idea. “Some of the stuff from the Box we thought might be yours is already there. I’d suggest you try and get some sleep before the fun starts.”

“Fun…?”

“We usually have a welcoming party for the new Greenie. You’re today’s guest of honor.”

“I don’t think I’m in the mood for any parties.”

“Suit yourself.”, he bended over to pick up a sack of potatoes he’d abandoned by his feet and hung it over his right shoulder, getting ready to leave. “But I’ve been waiting a whole month for it. Oh, and by the way,” he trailed off before disappearing around the corner,

“ _I’m Newt._ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This series is based on 'The Maze Runner' movie franchise, not the books. Just in case you are confused as to why Nick is not the leader of the Glade in the beginning, even though the main character arrives before his death in the books, or any other details.
> 
> This series remains faithful to most of the original story, however some aspects will differ due to plot convenience. As you can imagine, there was no feasible way for me to construct an original and interesting main character without having her steal some of the spotlight from the actual protagonist of the movies, Thomas.
> 
> This series debuts one year before the plot of the first movie. I needed a longer timespan to build a connection between the main character and the other Gladers, especially Newt and Minho, who at that point had been in the Glade for two years.
> 
> This is my first published story. I am by no means an expert and do not claim otherwise. Any constructive criticism is more than welcome, however, I am in every right to report any unnecessarily hateful comments I come across.
> 
> Last but most certainly not least, I do not own any of the original 'The Maze Runner' characters or plot lines. However, this series was written by me in its entirety, therefore, any form of plagiarism will be immediately reported in conformity to my author rights and AO3's guidelines.
> 
> You can also find this story on other fanfiction websites, such as Wattpad and Quotev.
> 
> Welcome, and enjoy~


	3. Chapter 3

A loud cheer startled her awake, almost causing her to fall off the hammock. The whole room was suddenly lit by a warm fiery glow that seeped in through the cracks and casted dancing shadows on the walls.

After her first encounter with the British Glader, she weighed her options carefully; behind her was one of four massive gates that offered the possibility of an escape. In front stood a dilapidated wooden building that she’d seen Adam exit with her sleeping arrangements no longer in hand. The rational side of her suggested she waited the shock out before hastily taking a perhaps dangerous decision. Her legs, on the other hand, yearned to make a run for the Maze, even if she had no idea what awaited her out there.

Upon careful consideration, she dashed towards the Council Hall and shut the door behind her after a quick scan to make sure there was nobody in there with her. She found herself in a poor excuse for an amphitheater of doubtful structural integrity she suspected they used for meetings. A hammock hung at the very back of it, tied to two wooden posts that acted as pillars. In it were a hard pillow made out of itchy sack fabric and a thin woolen blanket, alongside a beaten-up backpack whose contents she had yet to discover, being too busy freaking out in circles around the Hall.

_Run. Run. Run._

She locked the entrance door and laid her forehead on the rough wood, not even caring about the chips that could potentially dig underneath her skin, causing a nasty infection. After a few seconds of meditated deep breaths, she calmed down. Nothing too bad had happened to her so far, so there was no reason for her to get more agitated than necessary, although the suffocating panic that incessantly gnawed at the pit of her guts was not exactly something she could control very easily. 

She glanced at the hammock and as another painful pang attacked her head the idea of a nap sounded right about perfect, but she wasn’t too sure she’d be able to fall asleep in such a state of distress. Her foreboding turned out to be true. Way too watchful of her surroundings for sleep to come to her, she stared aimlessly at the ceiling, listening closely to the hustle and bustle of the Glade.

Her arrival had proved to be quite monumental and she couldn’t stop herself from wondering what on Earth had been inside the minds of the people that had sent her, a defenseless girl, into a place crawling with unmannered brutes. The worst of ideas crossed her mind, but she quickly shook her head in an attempt to escape it and instead focused on Newt’s previous words.

“ _We need to learn to trust each other_.”

Later rather than sooner, her eyelids started to become heavy and she finally fell into the arms of Morpheus. Around the same time she fell asleep, Frypan started preparing his famous celebratory roast all the boys had been looking forward to. Their resources were scarce, so they couldn’t allow themselves the luxury of killing three pigs more than once per month. And the arrival of a new Glader was always a good occasion to celebrate. Once Minho and his squad came in sight, everyone sighed in relief. On the one hand because they were all glad to see their friends make it back safely. On the other, because they knew what it meant; the Doors would close soon, marking the end of their work for the day.

Adam was sent to announce the Greenie that dinner was ready, but after seeing the young Slopper come back with no female companion in sight, they assumed they’d have to party without her. Not that they cared too much; with or without Greenie, they were all just glad to finally have a chance at some fun. After a long month of monotonous work around the Glade, they all felt like they’d earned it.

Once there’d been nothing left of Fry’s delicious dinner but bones, they got ready to light a huge bonfire in honor of the Newbie, who was still soundly asleep in her hammock, but not for much longer.

Their enthusiastic paean woke her up.

“Greenie! Greenie! Greenie!”, she heard them chant from right outside the door.

Their intentions had not been malicious in the slightest, but taken outside of context they would’ve startled anyone. Scared to death, she curled up underneath the scratchy fabric and waited for their calls to subside. She’d thought they’d finally come to do terrible things to her. But the worst that happened was the occasional ‘ _bitch_ ’ some of them mumbled underneath their breaths after the crowd scattered in disappointment.

Newt fixed himself a nice jar of Gally’s staple drink. None of them knew what exactly the liquid contained, but were grateful for the light tipsy sensation it gave them after a few gulps nonetheless. Throughout the evening, he glanced at the door a few times and debated whether he should try to talk to her, but disregarded the option every time, knowing he’d make a fool out of himself if his attempts turned out to be futile, which they most probably would. Instead, he resorted to watching the other guys take turns to fight Gally in a game they’d collectively come up with a few months after Alby’s first arrival to the Glade, when things started to settle a bit and they allowed themselves to have some fun.

Their enjoyable night ended with a bunch of snoring guys sprawled all over the ground around the dying bonfire, some still intoxicated with Gally’s liquid refreshment. The Greenie, however, had not managed to sleep a wink after their misunderstood ambuscade. Nor did Newt, who’d spent the next few hours until sunrise talking to a sober Alby. At some point, she became their main subject of conversation.

“What are we going to do about her?”, Alby wondered, looking up at the sky sprinkled with stars.

“What do you mean?”

“I’m not sure she can take all of this.”

“Don’t know mate, she seems pretty strong to me.”

Alby looked at his friend. “Oh yeah? How so?”

“Well,”, Newt began, leaning back and shifting all of his weight on his elbows. “you can’t expect her to come to terms with all of this on the first day. But I mean, so far so good. At least she hasn’t _klunked_ her pants yet, unlike some.”, he joked, pointing at a sleeping Winston. The memory made them share a laugh.

“Yeah, I suppose you’re right…”

“Nor has she tried anything stupid.”, he added with a more serious tone, referring to that one time only him and Minho knew about, a split second when his better judgement had failed him.

“To be honest with you Newt, I have no idea what to tell the others tomorrow morning.”, Alby confided in his oldest friend.

“Don’t worry man, it’ll come to you. It always does.”, Newt reassured, giving Alby a strong pat on the back.

Morning came far too quickly for the exhausted Greenie, who’d only managed to get three proper hours of sleep. Otherwise, she’d just listened to the sinister sounds echoing from the ever-changing Maze, praying that she’d make it to the next day alive and well.

As soon as the first sunrays cracked above the walls and the doors opened, Alby began to wake up the hungover Gladers with his foot, announcing the Keepers that they were to meet him in the Hall after freshening up.

“But I have to make breakfast.”, Frypan argued with a dry throat and pasty mouth.

“We’ll eat after the Gathering. It’s an urgent matter.”

After Gally had helped his leader wake the last few boys up, he made his way towards the Hall and banged his fist on the wooden door, hoping to wake her up.

“Rise and shine, Greenie! It’s time for your tour!”, he called out.

After hearing no response, he banged on the door again. “Wake up Greenie!”

The truth was, she’d heard him the first time. But there was no way she was opening that door after the previous night’s menacing attempt to make her come out.

“Come on, wake up!”, he continued banging.

“You’re probably scaring her.”, said Newt as he calmly approached Gally, who became more aggressive with each bang.

“Well why don’t you try getting her out of there?”, Gally dared him, stepping aside.

Newt positioned himself before the door and knocked on it a total of three times. “It’s Newt. Are you awake?” He looked at Gally, who smirked at him mockingly. “Alby needs the Hall for an important Gathering.”

“Good job Newtie.”, teased Gally, earning a couple of chuckles from the other guys.

Newt continued, paying no mind to Gally’s provoking remarks. “I can take you on a tour and answer all your questions, like Alby promised.”

After a couple of seconds of no reply, they laughed at him again. But just as Newt was about to knock on the door again, it cracked open, and an unsure Greenie poked her head from behind it. At first, she was determined not to, but she needed to get some answers from him and she recognized that she couldn’t barricade herself in there for the rest of her life.

He greeted her with a smile. “Good mor…”

“I’m not coming out until they leave.”, she cut him off, referring to the group of Builders standing next to him.

“Too bad, Greenie. We’re not going anywhere.”, answered Gally.

Her response was a slam of the door that made the Keeper frown and motion to bang on the door again. But Newt stopped him. “I need to get her out.”

“She’s been here for one day, Newt. She has no right to boss us around.”, retorted Gally, certainly irritated.

“Gally, please.” The young lad had a way of persuading people everyone in the Glade admired. Eventually, Gally scoffed and left for the Gardens to wash up with a hose they used to pump water into the soil. “You can come out now.”

She slowly opened the door again, taking a look around to ensure that he wasn’t lying. Only when she’d made certain that it was just the Briton was waiting for her, leaning on the wall and studying his nails mindlessly, did she come out. He directed his gaze towards her.

“Good morning, how’d you sleep?”

“Fine.” A lie.

He pointed towards the Gardens. “There’s running water over there, if you want to wash up.”

“I’d rather get straight to the point.”, she stated. She hadn’t come out to make pointless chatter, but to actually get a grip of what was going on.

He rose an eyebrow, rather entertained by her eagerness. “Alright, follow me.”

They began walking in unison towards the small farm in the far Southern corner.

“Can you remember anything?” She shook her hear ‘no’, and he nodded in apprehension. “Everything you can see up to those walls is what we call the Glade. The Glade is our home. Each month a new boy comes up in the Box with no memories. Or, in your case, a new girl.”

Alby had already explained all of that to her. “Who sends us here?”

“Well, we call them the Creators, but we don’t actually know. All we know is that all of the supplies that come up in the Box have W.C.K.D written on them, but we have no idea what that means either.”

 _Great, so basically what you’re telling me is that you know nothing._ “Do you know why they send us here?”, to which he just shrugged. “We have to have something in common, though.”

“We did, until you came.”, he smiled. She just kept the same face of concentration on the whole time. “What happens after a Greenie arrives is that he gets assigned to a job. There are nine in total. You basically try them all and Alby decides in a Gathering with the Keepers based on how well you do on each of them.”

“What’s a Keeper?”

“They’re kind of like the boss of each job. Gally’s the Keeper of the Builders, for example.”

“Which job do you have?”

“My job is to make sure everyone else is doing their job.”, he answered cleverly. “I wouldn’t worry too much about it though. You’re probably gonna get assigned to help Fry in the kitchen or Clint in the Medical Hut.”

She stopped dead in her tracks, frowning at him. “Why? Because I’m a girl?”

He thought about his answer for a second, not wishing to insult her. “Well, not necessarily. It’s just that the big brawny guys are usually the ones to get assigned to the other jobs. You’re too clever for that.”

“What happens if I’m not good at any of them?”

“Then you become a Slopper. Slopper’s usually do the work around the Glade that no one else wants to, like cleaning out the toilets and scrubbing the _Blood House_.”

They walked around the whole Glade and Newt talked to her about all sorts of things, from what each area was designed for, to the Glader’s lifestyle and even their rules. She mostly kept to herself, listening intently to his speech.

“There’s three rules every Glader has to follow. Number one, never go outside the Glade. Number two, never hurt another Glader. Number three, everyone does their part, Alby doesn’t tolerate slackers.”

Meanwhile, the aforementioned sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose in response to what Gally was hinting at.

“Gally’s right, Alby. I don’t think the Creators would suddenly send up a girl without a good reason.”, agreed Zart, Keeper of the Track-hoes.

“Come on Alby, you can’t tell me you haven’t thought about it too.”, he was right. There was no denying that the thought had crossed the leader’s mind at least once or twice.

“Yeah, but we don’t know anything for sure.”, reasoned the pragmatic Glader. “And until they send us some kind of signal to do otherwise, I say we just treat her like everybody else.”

“But she’s not like everybody else.”, Gally argued.

“I’m with Alby on this one.” Frypan and Alby managed to see eye to eye most of the time, which the latter certainly appreciated.

“Yeah, me too.”, said Winston. “I don’t think it would be fair to… well, you know, _force her_ to do anything.”

“No one would be _forcing_ her.”, explained further the Keeper of the Builders.

Alby looked at the _Runner_ who stood the furthest from them with his arms crossed over his chest, as if distancing himself from the conversation as much as possible. He hadn’t spoken a word since the beginning of the meeting and that was mostly because he didn’t care that much about what happened inside the Glade since he spent most of his time in the Maze or secluded in the _Map Room_.

“What do you think, Minho?”

“I don’t know man…”, he admitted, shifting his weight to one of the posts her hammock was tied to. “I think we should wait it out, see what she’s capable of.”

“Great, looks like we all mostly agree.”, concluded Alby, directing his eyes towards the Builder. “She’ll start tomorrow with you, Gally.”

“Oh, come on man, have you seen her? She won’t be able to properly lift a hammer.”

“I don’t want to hear it, Gally.”, Alby cut him off. “And let’s make it an official rule that until told otherwise, no one is allowed to lay a hand on her. I think we all know what happens if you break the rules. Gathering’s over.”

Gally scoffed at Alby’s dismissal and stormed off, Zart following closely behind, also unhappy with the leader’s final decision. The Council Hall quickly emptied itself of dog-tired Gladers dreading to resume their daily tasks after the previous night’s drinking spree.

Minho sprinted towards the Map Room to grab his gear and then headed to the _East Door_ , where Ben and Dan were already stretching while waiting for him. They’d lost about an hour of running time, which meant the next morning they’d have to skip breakfast in order to make up for it.

Newt was talking to the Greenie about the Gardens when she spotted Minho and his squad run into the Maze, heart dropping and eyes filling with rage. Had they been lying to her the whole time? She left the British Glader mid-sentence, stomping furiously towards the North Door, determined to leave and never return. He looked around in confusion, noticing her sudden absence, then jogged lightly to catch up with her and grabbed her by her the back of her tank top, forcing her to spin around.

“Where are you going?”

“Get the hell away from me!”, she spat in his face, perplexing him further. Had he said anything wrong? Seeing as he just stood there, puzzled like an idiot, she turned around and resumed her way, which made him return to his senses.

“Hey, slow down!” He trotted after her again, finally realizing she was going for the gate. He went around her and stopped, obstructing her path. She tried to avoid him, but he wouldn’t budge, blocking her route every time she made a move.

“I said stay away! I’m leaving.”

“Have you not been listening to what I’ve been saying to you all morning? You can’t.”

“Can’t I?”, she yelled, pointing towards the East Door, where Dan was still tying his shoelaces before going in. He finally understood what she was so upset about.

“No, you don’t understand, those are…”

“You’re right, I _don’t_ understand.”, she interrupted him. “How can I when it seems like everyone’s either been avoiding my questions or straight up lying to my face?”

“They’re Runners. They’re the only ones allowed to leave.”

“Then make me a Runner.”

“It’s not that simple.”

“Great. Now get out of my way.”, she demanded as she attempted to walk past him once more, still fruitlessly.

“I can’t let you. You know that.”

“Why Newt? Why won’t you tell me what’s out there? I’ve been walking around with you for an hour and you haven’t said a word about why it’s so dangerous behind those walls!” She was really frustrated with their insistence on avoiding to talk about anything beyond the Glade.

He sighed. “ _There’s a maze_.”

**Author's Note:**

> This series is based on 'The Maze Runner' movie franchise, not the books. Just in case you are confused as to why Nick is not the leader of the Glade in the beginning, even though the main character arrives before his death in the books, or any other details.
> 
> This series remains faithful to most of the original story, however some aspects will differ due to plot convenience. As you can imagine, there was no feasible way for me to construct an original and interesting main character without having her steal some of the spotlight from the actual protagonist of the movies, Thomas.
> 
> This series debuts one year before the plot of the first movie. I needed a longer timespan to build a connection between the main character and the other Gladers, especially Newt and Minho, who at that point had been in the Glade for two years.
> 
> This is my first published story. I am by no means an expert and do not claim otherwise. Any constructive criticism is more than welcome, however, I am in every right to report any unnecessarily hateful comments I come across.
> 
> Last but most certainly not least, I do not own any of the original 'The Maze Runner' characters or plot lines. However, this series was written by me in its entirety, therefore, any form of plagiarism will be immediately reported in conformity to my author rights and AO3's guidelines.
> 
> You can also find this story on other fanfiction websites, such as Wattpad and Quotev. 
> 
> Welcome, and enjoy~


End file.
